From the Caminho to the Capital City…Lisboa here we come

One last coffee in Santiago de Compostela and we left Spain to make Lisboa our base for the next few days. Unfortunately, there are not great direct travel options from Santiago. It is about a five hour drive, and that is what worked for us. It was very interesting driving at highway speed past all the towns and cities on our walk. There is also a completely different view of the landscape. We drove through the miles of burnt forests from last summer’s wild fires. Once we crossed into Portugal we followed the reverse Central Route into Lisbon. Call it a Car Camino. Our first stop after dropping our bag was up several steep hills to a tiny tile store called Surrealejos just to catch our breath before heading to a miradouro (view point) with a café. Looking out at the Tagus River, sipping rosé and eating a brie, honey and walnut sandwich was the right choice to re-enter the bustle of city life after a bucolic and quiet couple of weeks. Wandering through the crowded streets we came across thousands of (almost 4,000) teenage girls sitting on the streets winding around for many blocks. After a few questions we found out that they have been waiting on line for more than twelve hours for a Niall Horan concert (he was in the group One Direction). They were all singing and having a fun time. The café and store owners, whose businesses were disrupted, were not so happy. We will plan out our next few days over a few more snacks and drinks and enjoy all the treasures and delicious treats Lisbon has to offer.